Jennifer Hudson is preparing to release a new album, “JHUD,” in September—her third studio album and her first since the conclusion of the lengthy trial of the man who killed three of her closest family members—and her faith, in the wake of tragedy, is stronger than ever.

The conventional left wisdom that music functions primarily as an occasion for the liberated expression of “collective joy” is all washed up. The carnivalesque spectacles are dead ends, channeling what might find political expression into narrowly personalized exercises in adolescent subjectivity.

Under Hawaiian law, undercover police can have intercourse with sex workers, no questions asked; the unreliability of the Internet in terms of privacy is affecting the tech industry; and how much will we pay for streaming music? These discoveries and more after the jump.

Neurobiological studies show that mathematical formulas stimulate the same parts of the brain as music and art do; a writer questions our surveillance nightmares; meanwhile, gay youth find solace on the Internet. These discoveries and more after the jump.

Pete Seeger wasn’t one of those legendary performers who made the world a better place with music. He was the original. He was inimitable and unique and indomitable in his mission to bring light to the dark places.

After a talk on the collapse of complex societies, Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges answers an audience question: “Will it take [literature, music and art] to waken us to the empathy of other suffering or hardship?”

Though music is commonly known to soothe the soul, professional pianist Laia Martin is being charged with causing her neighbor in Girona psychological damage with her constant playing. If found guilty of extreme counts of noise pollution, Martin will spend up to 20 months in prison.

This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Julian Assange’s attorney, Michael Ratner, has a front seat to history. Also: Is this the golden age of the black quarterback? And a feminist explains why women can love Eminem. Plus: Robert Scheer on the pope.

This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Julian Assange’s attorney, Michael Ratner, has a front seat to history. Also: Is this the golden age of the black quarterback? And a feminist explains why women can love Eminem. Plus: Robert Scheer on the pope.

Hip-hop hit a milestone this week, turning 40 years old. The same week, Federal District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin, in a 195-page ruling, declared the New York Police Department’s practice of stop-and-frisk unconstitutional.

This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Nato Green, Ninotchka Rosca, Phil Yu, Leilani Albano, Laura Carlsen, Bill Boyarsky, and Robert Scheer on racism three ways, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Bradley Manning and Obama’s change of heart.

This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Nato Green, Ninotchka Rosca, Phil Yu, Leilani Albano, Laura Carlsen, Bill Boyarsky, and Robert Scheer on racism three ways, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Bradley Manning and Obama’s change of heart.

Those who defend our economic status quo have other alibis. We don’t need to make any structural changes in our economy, the argument goes. People who want to advance just need to understand that our new economic circumstances place a very high premium on education. Get a good education, and you will do OK.

Aging Spanish flamenco artist Manuel Molina gives sensitive, forceful expression to the common things of life: singing with the voice one has, learning trust and mistrust, going without food, and enjoying the company of friends.

The rapper took to the stage at the StartUp RockOn concert in Washington, D.C., on Sunday night and proceeded to sing his anti-war song, “Words I Never Said”—which includes lyrics such as “Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit / That’s why I ain’t vote for him, next one either”—for roughly 30 minutes.

It was a conversation representative of the era: Somewhere around 1969 or 1970, my dear, conservative Uncle Ray asked his son and me why we liked music by Jimi Hendrix and the Doors but we never listened to Dave Brubeck.

An official tweet sent early Sunday morning shortly before this post went to Web said: “Due to high winds, we are temporarily halting all entry to @EDC_LasVegas. Fans inside, head to the grand stands. This is for your safety.” Updated.

I spent Friday night in Las Vegas with an estimated 115,000 young people at the country’s biggest dance party. They were there to have fun. I was there to annoy them with questions. Surprisingly, every single baby-faced millennial I talked to was registered to vote and planned to cast his or her ballot in the next election.

Along with 11 other Americans and an Israeli, Robert Zimmerman on Tuesday received the highest civilian honor his nation can bestow. Bob Dylan’s contributions to music go without saying, but did you know he also published three books of art? You might say Dylan has gone eclectic (ouch). (Full list of honorees after the jump.)

The soundtrack of my youth is fading. That’s hardly an original observation, I realize, but self-indulgence is a columnist’s inalienable right and music has unique power to summon unbidden waves of nostalgia.

Americans hear a lot about the need to vanquish their supposed enemies abroad with bullets, bombs, and other tools of overwhelming force. Evidence that a common humanity can be called upon to settle differences is scarce in the media. Count this brief story from a World War II vet among the few exhibits submitted to that effect.

Fake photographs of Trayvon Martin are being used to diminish public concern about his killing; emails and other documents of the Department of Homeland Security reveal that the hacktivist group Anonymous was investigated as a dangerous security threat; Egyptian women are finding ways to express their revolutionary voices through music. These discoveries and more after the jump.